The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1887-04-24
WHO rs OLD SATAN?
The Query Which has Puzzled
Mankind
EVER SINCE The WORLD BEGAN.
<,.nd,rwill Be Foznd Upon Examin,
alton, That Satan Has the Largest
Congregation"
Satan stood

Satan stood
unterrifed and like comet burned
mai fires the length of 0phincus huge, ::
n the Arctic sky, and from his horrid hal
shakes pestilence and war
Whoever or whatever the devil may
be, he is most important parsonage
History, poetry, romance, mythology
snd art all furnish abundant evidence
Of the truth OF this statement. The
erandest of epics, the greatest OF paint
ings. the most famous of theatrical
nlavs, all have him as their central hg-
ure. Not to speak of his notable achieve
nents as told in the Books OF Books,
which have been the theme OF theologl-
csI discussion from time immemorial,
his acts. or acts imputed to him, are Ie-
corded In countless volumes.
THE devil made Milton famous and
.ontrihu.5d. IN no small degree, to the
SSnown of Shakespeare; Mephistopheles,
Tbo was either the devil or his agent, is
The nero of Goethe's masterpiece; while
tbe Mace where the devil is supposed to
sbide was to Virgil snd Dante the foun-
Sation upon which their muses. built a
strrcture more enduring than brass,
more gplendid than gems of the Or
lent"
lar to q reporter the other day, that
the devil would follow the example set
bv some of our public men and write
his autobiography. ANY publisher
would give liberal sum for the copy
right and handsome royalty on every
volume sold We know nothing about
the deYil-that is, nothing definite. His
history ". aid be one of the most enter
tanning ever written. Who would not
Ike to know when Satan was born, who
his parents were, how he passed his boy
hood what were the achievements of
his ripper years, and all the other facts
that make up a standard biography
DsfOe vas the only writer who ever at
tempted such a work, and he could
scarcely be considered an authority on
the subject"
The theme is vast one; but any au-
thor Except his Satanic Majesty him
selD attempting the work suggested
would be bewlldered- at the outset by
the necessity Of solving q number of
difficult questions like the following: Is
tAS- = O4tC dSh51 Ouiy Is uS Ohul pEG-
sent, OmniScent, or is he limited to his
own domain and restricted in his pow
ers? In short, who and what is the
devil, and what is this nature and char
scter?
We have the best of grounds for be
EsT.ug hat the devil was once respecta-
bic. at least he kept good company
and was not then described as mis-
Chief maker. Now there was day"
states TIE Book OF Job lchsp. l.. vi. and |
VII, when the sons OF God came to |
present themselves before the Lord and |
Satan came also among them" He was !
asked whence he came, and replied, |
IRON going to and fro in the earth, |
and from walking up and down it."
That Is, he was tramp. he couldn't |
have followed the road long or his com
panioas would certainly have beea
ashamed OF him.
JOB was rich man and maintained q
magnificent establishment; he was also
upright and honest. Satan tried TO con.
vert hlm TO his theories, but Job could
not Dc moved elthtr to swear or lie; and
though his patience was nightly tried
oy the adversary, he grew both IL wis
dom and strength and lived lao years
after.
The Satan of the Old Testament does
net appear 10 have been being of great
power, He was first a servant, then q
prosecutor, then q confidence man.
Popular IDEAS of his character are
G:aWn from Mllton's terrible pictures of
nm, and notfrom the Scriptural record.
Ihers We're other devils than Satan.
however. The latter appears to have
ven accorded the position of chief of
se 'Eloe and ruler of the realm of dark
Aess as soon as he had demonstrated his
capacity Tor the place. The date of his
SyGeSsion to power is not at hand.
noses records that idolatrous people.
sven IN his time, sacrificed to devils
suQ no; to Sod" Whether all the
o oeIi-s Oh he earth werc descended from
ous common ancestor or not some fu-
t taIe historian must determine. The
1 .elm Oh devil in this article is used as Z
81 plJps used, it, to designate the chief or ,
lsaulng SprIt-the Evil One:
Q thou! whatever title suit thee.
AuIo bornle, Satin, Nick or Clooile.
WA, IN your cavern grim and soOtie
Closed under matches :
opa--tes ABOUT birthstone cootie !
10 Scaud poor wretehes .
POSSIBLY poor Burns, deceived by the !,
OF his country, Iibeled the :
poor devil. Certainly, SCATTERING seeth- :
ng 0rimstone, this way and that. an a..
,eafs IKE very undignifed occupation :
% parsonage Of the devils reputed
Vealth and power; and we all agree 8
sIth the poet when he SAYS, in effect =
mai Scaldlng poor chaps Ito Hear them =
4leal' must be very duh amusement :
o. Old Nick. Z
The devils of the New Testament were y
lemons OF evil spirits, such as have ex-
s1ed from the earliest times among all
peoples, Those which were cast out of
nary Magdalen, and those of the man
legion which caused the swine to com
4 xl I suicide, were mere servants or imps I
:: satan. But i was the Master Devil
u sen Who tried for forty days to get
: ne Savior into his power, as is recorded
Luke, chapter iv.
Moncure D. Conway, the only mod :;
~: "a writer who has attempted ANYTHING
Ike history of devils, says that de- 81
s 3: are older than devils. The word fl
uamond) signifed divinity Originally 81
tu has been degraded, even as ths ;,
nafacters of demons and devils have =
Thus in heather conn u
sIes there sprang up demons of are 81
,s.nger, thirst, cold, fever. darkness
~ gnoGls, which fed upon the dead
~ = vampires, returning from the dead u
" lean $1,000 =,